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U.S. banks risk debt exposure, Fitch says

by: YOUNG MONEY Staff

U.S. banks are not immune from the sovereign debt scourge victimizing one euro nation after the next because they likely have as much as $50 billion exposed, credit agency Fitch Ratings said on Wednesday, according to Bloomberg.

The New York-based service said six of the U.S.' biggest banks will see their credit suffer as a result of the deepening debt scourge if it pushes beyond the core PIIGS nations – Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain.

"Unless the euro zone debt crisis is resolved in a timely and orderly manner, the broad credit outlook for the U.S. banking industry could worsen," a Fitch statement said, according to Bloomberg.

The service pointed to the six biggest banks – JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley – and noted that on September 30 they had roughly $50 billion in risk linked with the PIIGS.

The Financial Times reports Spain emerged as the next flashpoint of the sovereign debt scourge when borrowing costs grew to perilous levels 72 hours prior to a national election that is likely to dethrone the empowered party

During the past two weeks, the fulcrum of the debt scourge has shifted from Greece to Italy and now Spain.